The fracture forced him to skip India's first-ever Comic Con over the weekend, where fans gave him a lifetime achievement award that was collected by his longtime editor Reena I. Puri.

Pai, affectionately known as "Uncle Pai," is credited with helping to launch India's comic book industry in the 1960s with his "Amar Chitra Katha" series chronicling the ancient Hindu epics Mahabarata and Ramayana. In 1980 he released the first comic in his wholesome children's series "Tinkle."